A TEENAGER was killed after stepping in front of a bus in Widnes, an inquest in Warrington heard today.

Jake Shaw, 17, was outside Asda on Milton Road with two student friends when the collision happened.

The trio had shared lunch at KFC and were walking back to Riverside College at around 12.15pm on Monday, October 19 last year.

Curtis Oates, from Grangemoor, Runcorn, told the inquest: “We walked towards the lights. Jake stepped onto the road and the bus collided with him.

“I was in shock.”

“I didn’t step out because the lights were on red.”

Ben Comaish-Stanley said: “Jake just stepped out to cross over and then within two to three seconds the bus hit him.”

Passenger David Morrice, from Halebank, was standing up on the bus waiting to get off on his way to college.

He recalled the bus slow down as a man wearing a cap crossed the road slowly towards Asda.

“The bus gradually sped up,” he said. “I remember seeing Jake step out. Three or four seconds later the bus collided with him.

"The bus braked quickly. I remember it stopping within seconds."

Bus driver Michael Poole, employed by Halton Transport at the time of the crash, said there was nothing he could do to avoid the collision.

Mr Poole, a bus driver for 11 years who now works for Stagecoach, said: “I wasn’t given enough time. I was already slowing down pulling into a bus stop.

“He stepped off the pavement. I was not in a position to do anything. It just wasn’t possible.”

A post mortem examination concluded that Jake, from Woolton, died from severe head injuries.

Anthony Green, from Greenway Road, Widnes, waiting to cross the road with a group of people, saw the collision.

He said: “I saw a young man step out. He seemed to stumble. The impact knocked him along the pavement.”

Mr Shaw was described by his dad Clifford, a police officer, as a courageous teenager.

The vehicle maintenance student suffered from a rare medical condition called eosinophilic oesophagitis.

Dad Mr Shaw told the hearing: “He did very little complaining. He was always trying to make people laugh despite his difficulties.

“He got 10 GCSEs and was made up to become a college student.”

After hearing evidence for three hours, the coroner adjourned the inquest for further investigations.